The customer is always right?

[FingahPickah]

Originally Posted by EvanB

Frank;

I'm with you. When that happens then I turn into a customer from heck. I was at a big electronics store returning something after Christmas and there was a line of about 8 people and one stressed-out employee dealing with the line. Behind the employee there was a big glass window and three muck-a-mucks laughing it up and having a good time.

I belted out a "hey!" Got their attention and then waved them out to the counter. And then I asked them if they worked at the store or just came in to party.

And then other people in the line got into it and asked embarrassing questions like "do you get paid to ignore your customers?"

The upshot was that three registers were opened and the line down fast. I think that sometimes there's room for an unruly customer.

"....I turn into a customer from heck"... "...room for an unruly customer"..?

Thank you for your input..
The question though (a tough one) is - What advice would you give to perhaps a younger hard working person to help him/her to deal effectively with unreasonable customers while maintaining their dignity, emotions and their job?

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by FingahPickah

- What advice would you give to perhaps a younger hard working person to help him/her to deal effectively with unreasonable customers while maintaining their dignity, emotions and their job?

One of these may help:

- Grit your teeth (not visibly) and take it; "Builds character."

- Remember, "Courage is grace under pressure."

- Think "I am thankful for this free lesson in maintaining my cool when dealing with difficult people."

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by ghostnote

"How DARE you treat me the way I treat you!"

Why do all the variations of the Golden Rule come to mind.

Having worked in retail and other jobs with a customer service component to them, I have seen lots of stuff, some sad, some hilarious. Here is one of the latter ones: I was working at a camera store in Hollyweird in the mid 1980s that had two buildings with the parking lot in between them. One of the buildings was the sales department, the other one was the gear rental/studio building (if you know your camera stores from the '70s through the '90s in Hollyweird with that description you know what store I worked at, at that time - they were right near Pinks on La Brea). I was in the rental department when Zsa Zsa Gabor came tripping (literally) in the door with little Fi Fi (miniature dog) in her arms. I had a feeling I was about to be dealing with a ditz! When I realized she was looking for something that was in the sales building I walked her over to the camera department where she spotted the camera (or, something similar to what she was interested in) in one of the large glass-fronted cases that had our demo cameras in them. She proceeded to walk behind the sales counter and over to one of the cases where she slid open the glass door, grabbed a camera and pulled it off the shelf. Our manager (bless his heart) told Zsa Zsa, in no uncertain terms, to put the camera back, then he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her out from behind the counter while telling her she is not allowed there. She made some kind of fuss but then backed down and cooled off when she saw that all of the employees and customers were watching as all this was going on, and they were cheering!

Oh, Hollyweird, what a fun place to work.

One of my more frustrating times was when I saw Leonard Nimoy walk in with his son, Adam. I spent a goodly time with them as "Spock" was looking for a camera for his son. I showed them a whole slew of different cameras, going from brand new all the way down to used, inexpensive ones, and from fully loaded feature-wise to basic mechanical cameras (my preference, personally). In the end, "Spock" was so flustered, not knowing which way to go, so they ended up leaving, not being able decide what to get. I was surprised that Leonard was like that; kind of a shame, really.

One of the more enjoyable encounters was with Alan Funt. I sold him a Hasslebald 500CM with 80mm lens and a Polaroid back and some b&w film. A few days later, Alan comes back complaining that the photos on the Polaroid film were just square images (55mm Sq.) that did not cover the full film area (3 1/4" x 4 1/4"). I had to demonstrate to Alan how the Polaroid back worked on a Hasselblad camera, that what he was getting was correct, really. Once he understood, he looked right at me and said something to the effect of, "And, I am the Candid Camera guy!!!" We both had a great laugh at that.

[imwjl]

My core job is managing infrastructure in a firm with retail operations but it does mean I get in or cannot avoid some customer facing issues, and I'm involved if they get really ugly such as analyzing records or the occasional stuff that can occur with law enforcement or litigation. The past nearly 2 years have meant a lot of customer interactions because we spend a lot of time with leadership protecting our approximately 600 who are always facing customers.

The customer is not always right but we suck up to some of that for reputation and because of how people will behave. Many people go pretty nuts trying to follow a narrative that fits what they want to believe more than reality. That means we make some decisions to manage time and reputation even if we don't like it.

We make some decisions with absolutely no exceptions. Our president does his best to make sure there's a culture that treats people and staff with respect. We do not ever allow customers to harass staff for matters they can't change. We have no tolerance for people disrespecting health and safety measures. Put another way, a basic fussy person is considered but customers cannot disrespect safety, health and things that are personal attacks or disrespect.

On the whole we don't see any problems drawing the lines where we do.

[Mr. Paul]

The customer is not always right...but they are always the customer.

Not if the business tells the customer to take a hike. A recent thread detailed Emerald Guitars telling a now former customer to look elsewhere.

[Dotneck]

I used to run a business that offered video and photography services. I owned the company so had to deal with the tough customers. I had one guy who gave one of my employees nothing but grief. Very demanding with unreasonable demands. She had to spend so much time with him (he kept coming back wanting more changes to his project) that I was losing money on the job. He kept holding the prospect of “the next big project” over her head. One day she was crying after dealing with him.

I had to tell him I didn’t think we could meet his expectations and he should look elsewhere for service. Of course, there was no where else for him to go for the service we provided.

Another tough customer. Used to complain about my prices. One day I had had enough. When he complained about a price he started ranting. I said “You don’t like the price?” He said “no.” So I gave him a price about 20% higher and said he could choose whichever price he preferred. He left and I never saw him again. I was pleased…

I suspect that the best advice for a young sales representative who is being abused by a customer is to say "I understand your point and think that maybe you should talk to the manager." And then haul a** to the manager's office.

[rllink]

I'm the mid seventies I worked at Honest Charlie's Speed shop. Yep, that was the name of it and the parent company is still in business in Chattanooga. Just a few blocks down the street was Handy Auto Parts and Speed Shop. What I learned fast was that if a customer came in looking for a particular item, let's say a four barrel carburetor that was way too big for their stock small block engine, if as a sales person I tried to tell them that a smaller four barrel would be a better fit for their car, they would listen, thank me, leave, and go to Handy to get the big one from them. A few customers appreciated the advise and became my regulars, but the majority of the customers didn't want to hear it. My boss said to quit telling people what I thought they should have and just sell them what they wanted.

[fazool]

I worked in fast food and retail for 5-6 years.

My son and daughter worked in retail. The landscape has changed tremendously. Whichever fool coined the phrase "the customer is always right" or "have it your way" really poisoned the population to thinking that's true.

The stories my kids, especially my daughter who has done this longer, shock me.

And the worst part is the store's have no integrity. By policy they side with the customer, no matter what - even (literally) if you see a customer steal an item, then walk back in and ask for a refund without a receipt. Seriously. These workers should all revolt. Between the incredibly self-righteous customers "OK Karen" 's to the incredibly weak leadership there is no wonder the retail industry is disintigrating.

[rmp]

In the last year or so, it's gotten really bad

The stores and restaurants are struggling to get enough staff to handle the day to day load.

A lot of ppl that go into these places seem to have zero tolerance or understanding for what is going on.

I was speaking with the owner of a very successful Italian restaurant, he said he's never, in 25+ years seen anything like what's going on now with the way people come in and talk to/treat his staff.

He's had to tell people that have caused problems lately that they are just refusing to server them, and they must leave.

He's had to call the police a few times, to escort these unruly folks out of his building.

He hates to do it, because they live and die by reviews, but he refuses to let these people abuse his staff.

I for one stand behind his decision 100%

The customer rule is not always the right assumption. the # rule people should be focused on instead is.. BE KIND....

[FingahPickah]

Originally Posted by rmp

In the last year or so, it's gotten really bad

The stores and restaurants are struggling to get enough staff to handle the day to day load.

A lot of ppl that go into these places seem to have zero tolerance or understanding for what is going on.

I was speaking with the owner of a very successful Italian restaurant, he said he's never, in 25+ years seen anything like what's going on now with the way people come in and talk to/treat his staff.

He's had to tell people that have caused problems lately that they are just refusing to server them, and they must leave.

He's had to call the police a few times, to escort these unruly folks out of his building.

He hates to do it, because they live and die by reviews, but he refuses to let these people abuse his staff.

I for one stand behind his decision 100%

The customer rule is not always the right assumption. the # rule people should be focused on instead is.. BE KIND....

A sign posted in a family fun Trampoline Park in Massachusetts reads: "WE DO NOT TOLERATE MISTREATMENT OF OUR EMPLOYEES - WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO TURN AWAY ANY INAPPROPRIATE CUSTOMERS"

And here's a clip from the news in NH seacoast area
https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/08/...new-hampshire/

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by FingahPickah

...The question though (a tough one) is - What advice would you give to perhaps a younger hard working person to help him/her to deal effectively with unreasonable customers while maintaining their dignity, emotions and their job?

Hi FingahPickah,

I never worked in retail, but for decades I dealt with customers with either warranty problems or performance problems related to equipment my employer's company sold. I was their chief engineer, but I handled all the unpleasant warranty issues to shield the other engineers from unhappy customers.

Most people were reasonable and appreciated knowledgeable help. Once they understood that they were going to or actually getting help, they tended to calm down. I was in the industrial pump business and very few people really understand what makes pumps work and how the system the pump is placed in makes all the difference in the world about how the pumps works or doesn't work.

I had several rules about working with people. I am naturally a pretty patient person and it takes a lot to push me over the edge. So out of thousands of people I worked with to solve problems over four decades, I had real trouble with only a few people, maybe four or five.

My rule: you are allowed to defend yourself from attack, but you are not allowed to attack back. This approach served me well over the years and not just in business. In life, too.

You really do need to act like the customer is always right, even though in the pump business most of the time the customer simply didn't know what he/she was doing. People in the pump business recognize that 75% of the pump problems are caused by people's misapplication of the pump or pumps in their piping system.

I like working with machinery. It follows rules. People, on the other hand, are extremely complex and don't necessarily follow rules at all.

- Glenn

[fumei]

My rule: you are allowed to defend yourself from attack, but you are not allowed to attack back. This approach served me well over the years and not just in business. In life, too.

Mine is similar. The fact - which most of us ignore a lot of the time - is that every second is a choice. In, hmmm, tense situations I try to slow down my responses by asking: Do I want this to get worse?

It truly is a yes or no question. If yes, do whatever. If no, I do not want this to get worse, then do NOT mirror the abuse, i.e. do not attack back. In any way. That can take a second to figure out. Which is the point. It is taking that second to ask the question. Those seconds are the source of calmness.

Hard to say how truly effective this is, but a first approximation is about 67.32% of the time that calmness gets - even if only a wee bit - into the other and they start to mirror some calmness. The other 32.68% are not likely to improve, but hey, at least YOU are stable and better off.

[fumei]

The question often gets asked many, many, many times. Repeatedly. Every couple of seconds for really difficult people/situations.

[Glennwillow]

Originally Posted by fumei

Mine is similar. The fact - which most of us ignore a lot of the time - is that every second is a choice. In, hmmm, tense situations I try to slow down my responses by asking: Do I want this to get worse?...

Yes, this is exactly right.

In the mechanical engineering world of control theory there is a device called a damper, essentially a shock absorber that resists rapid change. In myself I can often feel that damper working in the midst of a very difficult situation, telling me to not react immediately, to think about the consequences, to not make things worse, to not escalate a bad situation. Make sure that the other person is the problem, not me...

It's those times when I ignore that damper, that internal shock absorber, that's when I get myself in trouble.

- Glenn